Police closed Jay Street in Downtown to traffic, pedestrians, subways, and bicyclists for about an hour on Wednesday morning after someone reported a suspicious package in or near the Marriott building where the District Attorney’s office is located Wednesday morning.
Authorities at the scene said a suspicious package was spotted inside 12 MetroTech Center at 9:22 am, though a District Attorney spokesman Oren Yaniv said the package was actually spotted out on the street somewhere between the Supreme Court and their office, and their workplace stayed open throughout the ordeal.
Police and fire fighters nevertheless quickly cordoned off stretches of the busy thoroughfare between Tillary and Fulton streets. The Jay Street-Borough Hall-Lawrence Street station of the subway was also closed.
By 11 am, police gave the all-clear and reopened the street, while the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has since reopened the station, albeit with delays.
Workers at National Grid at One MetroTech directly across the street were not being allowed into their building, though the entrance to One MetroTech along the Myrtle Avenue esplanade — home of The Brooklyn Paper — remained open to workers, who were not particularly fazed by the scare.
“Honesty, it’s just another day in New York,” said Faron Henry, who works in the building, while the street was still closed. “Unless something new happens, I’m not concerned.”
The building where the Marriott is located is between MetroTech Walk and Johnston Street, and between Jay and Adams Street. Adams Street remained open during the scare.
The bomb scare comes on the heals of a blast three weeks ago in Manhattan.
— with Ruth Brown, Vince DiMiceli
